Hiring Remote Workers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: A Northern Virginia Employer’s Compliance Guide

By Anthony I. Shin, Esq., Shin Law Office

1. Why NoVA Companies Keep Hiring in Philadelphia

Philadelphia anchors one of the deeper Mid-Atlantic talent pools and a meaningful federal contractor presence in the King of Prussia and Conshohocken corridors. Comcast headquarters dominates Center City. SAP runs its North American business from Newtown Square. Vanguard’s Malvern campus anchors the asset management industry. IBM, Microsoft, and Salesforce all have meaningful Philadelphia offices. The pharma and biotech industry is represented by GSK in Upper Providence, Merck in West Point, and Spark Therapeutics in University City, with steady senior-level data and engineering hiring. The federal contractor footprint includes Lockheed Martin’s King of Prussia operations, BAE Systems, and a long tail of smaller defense and intelligence contractors serving the DC area from the Philadelphia metro.

In my practice, the Philadelphia remote worker reporting to a Northern Virginia employer is usually a senior software engineer, AI or machine learning engineer, federal cloud architect, security engineer, healthcare or pharma data professional, or business development professional. They live in Center City, Old City, Fishtown, Northern Liberties, University City, Manayunk, South Philly, or Society Hill, or in the suburbs like Conshohocken, King of Prussia, Wayne, Bryn Mawr, Ardmore, or further out in Bucks and Chester counties. They work entirely from Pennsylvania for a defense prime in Falls Church, a federal cloud vendor in Reston, a consulting firm with a Tysons office, or a security vendor in Herndon. The W-2 lists a Virginia employer. They rarely set foot in the Tysons office.

Philadelphia reads as a senior-engineering, pharma, and federal-contractor market with a meaningful cost-of-living advantage over the New York and DC metros. The employment law layer combines a moderate state framework (Pennsylvania is in the reasonableness cluster on non-competes with strong wage payment rules) with a deep Philadelphia city overlay that goes meaningfully beyond state law on paid sick leave, wage theft, fair chance hiring, and salary history. Most of these rules reach your Philadelphia remote worker regardless of where your contract was signed.

2. Where Pennsylvania Sits on the Compliance Map (and Where Philadelphia Adds More)

Let me put Pennsylvania in context. In the hub guide, I break states into four non-compete groups: outright ban, restrict by rule, reasonableness, and pro-enforcement. Pennsylvania sits in the reasonableness cluster. Pennsylvania courts apply the common-law reasonableness test from Pyle v. Hadley, 263 Pa. 526 (1919), and its progeny: a restrictive covenant must be reasonable in time, geographic scope, and scope of activity, must be necessary to protect a legitimate business interest, and must be supported by adequate consideration. The consideration rule is what catches NoVA employers off guard.

Maintenance Specialties, Inc. v. Gottus, 455 Pa. 327 (1974), held that continued employment alone is NOT adequate consideration for a post-hire non-compete in Pennsylvania. The rule survived the Pennsylvania Uniform Written Obligations Act, which addresses written promises generally but does not displace the consideration requirement for restrictive covenants. Pulse Technologies, Inc. v. Notaro, 67 A.3d 778 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2013), and subsequent decisions have applied the rule consistently. For an existing Pennsylvania worker, you need new consideration to enforce a new or modified non-compete: a signing bonus, a meaningful promotion, a raise, equity, or some other tangible benefit beyond continued employment.

On other axes, Pennsylvania is moderately protective. The Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collection Law (WPCL) at 43 P.S. Section 260.1 imposes 25 percent liquidated damages or $500 minimum (whichever is greater) for unpaid wages, plus mandatory attorney fees, and creates individual liability for corporate officers and managers. The Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (PHRA) at 43 P.S. Section 951 covers employers with 4 or more workers, a meaningfully lower threshold than federal Title VII’s 15. The Pennsylvania Whistleblower Law at 43 P.S. Section 1421 covers public-sector employees and contractors of public bodies. Pennsylvania has no state pay transparency posting rule and no state salary history ban (though Philadelphia has its own).

The Pennsylvania Fair Contracting for Health Care Practitioners Act (Act 74 of 2024), effective January 1, 2025, banned non-compete agreements longer than 1 year for physicians, certified registered nurse anesthetists, certified registered nurse practitioners, and physician assistants. The Act applies to non-competes entered into after the effective date. It also requires employers to provide patient notification when a covered practitioner departs. The Act is narrow but worth noting if your NoVA company has Pennsylvania-based medical or clinical staff (some federal health-sector contractors do).

Philadelphia adds a deep ordinance stack. The Philadelphia Wage Theft Ordinance at Phila. Code Section 9-4300 provides administrative remedies with treble damages for unpaid wages. The Philadelphia Paid Sick Leave Law at Phila. Code Section 9-4100 requires employers with 10 or more workers to provide up to 40 hours of paid sick leave per year. The Philadelphia Fair Workweek Ordinance at Phila. Code Section 9-4600 applies predictable scheduling rules to retail, food service, and hospitality employers with 250 or more workers and 30 or more locations worldwide. The Philadelphia Salary History Ban at Phila. Code Section 9-1131 prohibits employers from asking about wage history. The Third Circuit upheld the salary history ban against a First Amendment challenge in Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia v. City of Philadelphia, 949 F.3d 116 (3d Cir. 2020). The Philadelphia Fair Chance Hiring Ordinance at Phila. Code Section 9-3500 restricts criminal-history inquiries and provides a 7-business-day right to respond to adverse actions.

Compare Philadelphia to Atlanta. Atlanta runs on the pro-enforcement Georgia framework with a thin state-law overlay and a minimal city stack. Philadelphia adds the consideration trap on non-competes, the WPCL with 25 percent liquidated damages and personal officer liability, the PHRA at the 4-worker threshold, the Philadelphia ordinance stack with paid sick leave and treble-damages wage theft remedies, and the Philadelphia salary history ban that survived First Amendment review. The compliance lift is meaningful but manageable.

The good news is that planning ahead handles most of it. A Pennsylvania addendum to your standard agreement with the consideration framework built in for any non-compete, a federal-floor offer letter compliant with the Philadelphia salary history ban, a wage-payment protocol matched to the WPCL exposure, a paid sick leave policy meeting the Philadelphia floor, and Fair Chance Hiring-compliant background-check procedures cover most of the exposure.

3. Forum Selection and Choice of Law in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania does not have an anti-forum statute for non-competes. Your Virginia choice-of-law and forum-selection clauses do real work in Pennsylvania for most employment claims.

Forum selection. Pennsylvania courts enforce forum-selection clauses under M/S Bremen v. Zapata Off-Shore Co., Atlantic Marine Construction Co. v. U.S. District Court, and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision in Central Contracting Co. v. C. E. Youngdahl & Co., 209 A.2d 810 (Pa. 1965), as updated by subsequent decisions. A Virginia forum clause in your employment agreement is likely to be enforced absent a showing of unreasonableness, fraud, or overreaching.

Choice of law. Pennsylvania applies a flexible interest-analysis approach for contract claims, generally consistent with the Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws Section 187. For employment contracts negotiated and signed in Virginia for a worker who later moved to Pennsylvania, Virginia law generally applies to the contract itself. For statutory claims under Pennsylvania law (WPCL, PHRA, Pennsylvania Whistleblower Law, the Health Care Practitioners Act), Pennsylvania law applies regardless of contract language. For Philadelphia ordinance claims (Wage Theft Ordinance, Paid Sick Leave Law, Fair Workweek Ordinance, Salary History Ban, Fair Chance Hiring Ordinance), the Philadelphia ordinances apply to work performed in the city.

Federal court jurisdiction. The Eastern District of Pennsylvania (federal, Philadelphia) handles most non-trivial employment disputes involving Philadelphia workers. The Middle and Western Districts cover the rest of the state. State court is the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas for cases filed in the city, or the county Court of Common Pleas where the worker lives.

Practical takeaway. Your Virginia choice-of-law and forum-selection clauses generally hold in Pennsylvania. For non-compete enforcement, Pennsylvania courts will apply Virginia law if specified, though the Maintenance Specialties consideration rule may still apply if Pennsylvania has a materially greater interest. For WPCL, PHRA, and Philadelphia ordinance claims, Pennsylvania and Philadelphia law applies regardless of contract language. EDVA is fully available for general contract disputes with a Virginia forum clause.

4. Non-Competes in Pennsylvania: Reasonableness and the Consideration Trap

Pennsylvania non-compete law runs on common-law reasonableness analysis with one significant procedural trap: the Maintenance Specialties consideration rule. Pennsylvania does not have an outright ban (like California), a compensation threshold (like Washington or Illinois), or a procedural framework like Massachusetts. The law is more permissive than those states but stricter than Georgia or Florida.

The reasonableness test. Pennsylvania courts apply a four-part reasonableness analysis derived from Pyle v. Hadley and progeny. A non-compete is enforceable if (1) it is necessary to protect a legitimate business interest of the employer, (2) it is reasonable in time, (3) it is reasonable in geographic scope, and (4) it is supported by adequate consideration. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court in Hess v. Gebhard & Co., Inc., 808 A.2d 912 (Pa. 2002), confirmed the modern application of the test.

Legitimate business interests. Pennsylvania courts recognize trade secrets, confidential business information, unique skills, customer goodwill, and substantial customer relationships as legitimate business interests. Ordinary business knowledge and general skills are not legitimate interests sufficient to support a non-compete.

Reasonable in time. 1-year durations are commonly enforced. 2-year durations are enforceable when tied to a legitimate interest. 3-year and longer durations face increasing scrutiny and are often narrowed by Pennsylvania courts.

Reasonable in geographic scope. The geographic limit must be tied to where the employer actually does business or where the worker actually provided services. National non-competes are routinely narrowed unless the employer can show a legitimate national interest.

The Maintenance Specialties consideration rule. Maintenance Specialties, Inc. v. Gottus, 455 Pa. 327 (1974), held that continued employment alone is NOT adequate consideration for a post-hire non-compete. For a non-compete signed at the start of employment, the offer of employment itself is adequate consideration. For a non-compete signed during the course of employment, the employer must provide new consideration beyond continued employment. Pulse Technologies, Inc. v. Notaro, 67 A.3d 778 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2013), reaffirmed the rule. Examples of adequate new consideration include a signing bonus, a meaningful promotion (not just a title change), a substantial raise, an equity grant, additional valuable training, or some other tangible benefit.

The Pennsylvania Uniform Written Obligations Act. The PWOA at 33 P.S. Section 6 provides that a written promise signed by the promisor is not invalid for lack of consideration if it contains a statement that the signer intends to be legally bound. Some courts have read the PWOA to displace the Maintenance Specialties rule for non-competes that include the magic language. But the controlling Pennsylvania authority remains Maintenance Specialties; relying on PWOA alone to satisfy consideration for a non-compete is risky. Better practice is to provide actual new consideration in addition to any PWOA recital.

Customer non-solicits. Customer non-solicits face the same reasonableness analysis and consideration requirement. They are generally enforceable when narrowly tied to customers the worker actually had material contact with during employment.

Employee non-solicits. Employee non-solicits face the same analysis. Pennsylvania courts have enforced employee non-solicits of 1 to 2 years tied to co-workers the departing worker had material professional contact with.

Non-disclosure covenants. Trade secret protection runs indefinitely under the Pennsylvania Uniform Trade Secrets Act at 12 Pa. C.S. Section 5301 et seq. Confidential information that is not a trade secret can be protected for a reasonable post-employment period.

Blue-pencil modification. Pennsylvania courts can blue-pencil overly broad covenants. The trend is to enforce as much of the covenant as is reasonable rather than voiding the entire restraint. Drafting closer to enforceable scope reduces the risk of partial unenforceability.

The Pennsylvania Fair Contracting for Health Care Practitioners Act. Act 74 of 2024 (effective January 1, 2025) bans non-compete agreements longer than 1 year for physicians, certified registered nurse anesthetists, certified registered nurse practitioners, and physician assistants. The Act applies to non-competes entered into on or after the effective date. It also requires employers to provide patient notification when a covered practitioner departs. The Act is narrow but worth noting for NoVA employers with Pennsylvania-based medical or clinical staff in federal health-sector contracts.

Senate Bill 320 outlook. Senate Bill 320 in the recent legislative session proposed a broader compensation-threshold approach for non-competes in Pennsylvania. The bill has not passed as of this writing. Watch the Pennsylvania legislature in 2026 for further developments.

5. Wage and Hour: The WPCL and Philadelphia Wage Theft Ordinance

Pennsylvania wage and hour combines the Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collection Law (WPCL) with the Philadelphia Wage Theft Ordinance, the Philadelphia Paid Sick Leave Law, and federal FLSA. The WPCL is the central state statute and creates meaningful exposure for unpaid wage claims.

Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collection Law. The WPCL at 43 P.S. Section 260.1 et seq. requires employers to pay wages on regular paydays at intervals not less than monthly. Final wages must be paid on the next regular payday after separation. Wages include base salary, commissions earned and determinable, bonuses earned and determinable, and other promised compensation. Section 260.9a provides liquidated damages of 25 percent of total wages due or $500, whichever is greater, plus mandatory attorney fees and costs for prevailing employees. Section 260.10 imposes individual liability on corporate officers and managers responsible for wage payment decisions. The WPCL is one of the more punitive state wage statutes outside Massachusetts and California.

Wages includes fringe benefits. The WPCL definition of wages reaches earned commissions, earned bonuses, vacation pay (if the employer’s policy or contract treats it as earned), and other promised compensation. A clearly disclosed use-it-or-lose-it vacation policy is generally enforceable, but ambiguous or partially enforced policies can support a WPCL claim.

Philadelphia Wage Theft Ordinance. The Philadelphia Wage Theft Ordinance at Phila. Code Section 9-4300 et seq. provides an administrative and civil remedy for unpaid wages of $100 or more for work performed in Philadelphia. Workers can file a complaint with the Philadelphia Office of Worker Protections. The ordinance provides treble damages (three times the unpaid wages) plus attorney fees for prevailing workers. The ordinance is one of the more aggressive city-level wage-theft enforcement systems in the country. Treble damages under the Philadelphia ordinance plus the 25 percent WPCL liquidated damages create real exposure.

Philadelphia Paid Sick Leave Law. The Philadelphia Paid Sick Leave Law at Phila. Code Section 9-4100 et seq. requires employers with 10 or more workers to provide up to 40 hours of paid sick leave per year. Smaller employers must provide up to 40 hours of unpaid sick leave. Accrual is one hour per 40 hours worked. Coverage attaches to workers performing at least 40 hours of work in Philadelphia in a calendar year. The Philadelphia Department of Labor enforces with administrative penalties and a private right of action.

Philadelphia Fair Workweek Ordinance. The Philadelphia Fair Workweek Ordinance at Phila. Code Section 9-4600 et seq. applies predictable scheduling rules to retail, food service, and hospitality employers with 250 or more workers and 30 or more locations worldwide. The ordinance requires 14 days advance schedule notice, predictability pay for changes, and right-of-refusal rules. Most NoVA federal contractor remote workers are not in covered industries, but worth noting for diversified employers.

Minimum wage and overtime. The Pennsylvania minimum wage tracks the federal FLSA at $7.25 per hour. Pennsylvania has not enacted a state minimum wage above the federal floor. Philadelphia has not enacted a general private-sector minimum wage above the state floor (the city has contractor-specific wage ordinances but not a general minimum wage). Overtime under both FLSA and Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act applies after 40 hours per week. Pennsylvania has no daily overtime rule. The exempt salary threshold tracks federal FLSA.

Final pay. The WPCL requires final wages to be paid on the next regular payday after separation. Late payment triggers the 25 percent liquidated damages plus attorney fees plus individual officer liability.

Accrued vacation and PTO. Pennsylvania does not have a Section 227.3-style California rule treating all accrued vacation as wages. The WPCL treats vacation as wages only if the employer’s policy or contract clearly provides for it as earned. A well-drafted use-it-or-lose-it policy is enforceable. Ambiguous policies create WPCL exposure.

No state paid family leave. Pennsylvania has no Paid Family Leave program. Federal FMLA at 29 USC Section 2601 applies for employers with 50 or more workers within a 75-mile radius.

No state mini-WARN. Federal WARN at 29 USC Section 2101 applies to mass layoffs and plant closings of 100 or more workers. Pennsylvania has no state mini-WARN.

Workers’ Compensation. The Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act at 77 P.S. Section 1 covers Pennsylvania-based workers. NoVA employers with Pennsylvania workers must register and maintain coverage through a Pennsylvania-licensed carrier.

6. Discrimination: PHRA, Philadelphia Fair Practices Ordinance, and the Fair Chance Hiring Rule

Pennsylvania discrimination law runs through the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (PHRA) at the state level and the Philadelphia Fair Practices Ordinance at the city level. Both reach more employers than federal Title VII and provide broader protections in several specific areas.

The PHRA coverage threshold. 43 P.S. Section 954(b) covers employers with 4 or more workers, a meaningfully lower threshold than federal Title VII’s 15. A 4-person Reston startup with one Philadelphia remote worker has full PHRA exposure.

The protected categories. 43 P.S. Section 955 prohibits discrimination on race, color, religious creed, ancestry, age (40 to 70 originally; the federal ADEA reaches older workers above 70), sex, national origin, non-job-related disability, use of guide or support animal, GED diploma (rather than HS), and certain other categories. The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission issued guidance in 2018 (later affirmed in 2023 amendments) interpreting sex discrimination to include sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has not yet definitively ruled on the issue, but PHRC enforcement reaches those categories.

The PHRC filing requirement. A worker must file an administrative charge with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission within 180 days of the alleged discriminatory act. After 1 year, the worker may sue directly in state court.

The damages framework. PHRA damages include back pay, front pay, attorney fees, costs, and (in court actions filed after PHRC exhaustion) compensatory damages including emotional distress damages. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has held that punitive damages are not generally available under PHRA. Most plaintiffs pursuing serious PHRA claims also bring parallel federal Title VII or ADA claims to access the federal damages framework.

The Philadelphia Fair Practices Ordinance. The Philadelphia Fair Practices Ordinance at Phila. Code Section 9-1100 et seq. covers employers with 1 or more workers (effectively all employers) and prohibits discrimination on a broader range of categories than the PHRA, including sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, familial status, source of income, and others. The Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations enforces with administrative remedies and a private right of action.

Philadelphia Fair Chance Hiring Ordinance. The Philadelphia Fair Chance Hiring Ordinance at Phila. Code Section 9-3500 et seq. restricts criminal-history inquiries by employers with 1 or more workers operating in Philadelphia. Inquiries are prohibited until after a conditional offer. Adverse action based on criminal history requires individualized assessment, written notice, and a 7-business-day right to respond. The Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations enforces with administrative penalties and a private right of action.

Pennsylvania Whistleblower Law. The Pennsylvania Whistleblower Law at 43 P.S. Section 1421 covers public-sector employees and contractors of public bodies. Private-sector whistleblower protection runs through federal statutes (Sarbanes-Oxley, Dodd-Frank, False Claims Act, OSHA) and a narrow Pennsylvania common-law public-policy exception that Pennsylvania courts have applied conservatively.

NDA restrictions. Pennsylvania does not have a Silenced No More-style statutory restriction on NDAs in harassment settlements. The federal Speak Out Act and FAIR Act apply, limiting predispute NDAs for sexual-harassment and sexual-assault claims and limiting predispute arbitration for those same claims. Severance NDA templates require carve-outs preserving the worker’s right to report illegal conduct to government agencies.

7. Pay Transparency: Philadelphia Salary History Ban

Pennsylvania has no state pay transparency posting rule. There is no parallel to California SB 1162, Washington EPOA, Colorado EPEWA, New York Labor Law Section 194-b, NYC Local Law 32, Illinois HB 3129, or the Massachusetts Pay Transparency Act. A Pennsylvania-only job posting does not require a salary range disclosure.

Philadelphia Salary History Ban. The Philadelphia Salary History Ban at Phila. Code Section 9-1131 prohibits employers from asking applicants about wage history, requiring disclosure of wage history as a condition of employment, retaliating against an applicant who refuses to disclose, or relying on wage history in setting compensation. The ordinance was enacted in 2017 and survived a First Amendment challenge in the Third Circuit. Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia v. City of Philadelphia, 949 F.3d 116 (3d Cir. 2020), upheld the ordinance, finding that the inquiry and reliance provisions survived heightened First Amendment scrutiny because they directly advanced the city’s interest in addressing wage discrimination.

Coverage. The ordinance applies to all employers with workers in Philadelphia, regardless of size. Coverage reaches Philadelphia-based remote workers performing work in the city. A Philadelphia worker cannot be asked about wage history during the hiring process, and her wage history cannot be used in compensation-setting.

Penalties. Violations are enforced by the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations, which imposes administrative penalties. A private right of action is available for compensatory, punitive, and attorney’s fees.

Practical compliance. Most NoVA employers I work with adopt a universal practice of not asking about salary history across all hires, regardless of state. Several states (California, New York, Massachusetts) and many cities have salary history bans, and the EEOC’s pay equity guidance recommends avoiding salary history in compensation-setting to mitigate pay discrimination exposure. The administrative simplicity of a universal practice avoids state-by-state variation.

The practical issue: remote postings. The complication for NoVA employers is that most remote postings reach beyond Pennsylvania. If your remote tech posting is open to any US worker, it can be filled by a California, Washington, Colorado, New York, Illinois, or Massachusetts applicant whose state pay transparency rule attaches. Most NoVA employers adopt a universal disclosure approach across all remote postings rather than maintaining state-specific variants.

8. Termination, Final Pay, and Severance in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania is at-will under common law with statutory and common-law exceptions. The exceptions are the federal civil rights statutes, the PHRA, the Pennsylvania Whistleblower Law (public sector and public contractors), the WPCL anti-retaliation provisions, the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act anti-retaliation provisions, the federal whistleblower statutes, and the narrow Pennsylvania common-law public-policy exception recognized in Geary v. United States Steel Corp., 319 A.2d 174 (Pa. 1974), and progeny.

Final pay timing. The WPCL requires final wages to be paid on the next regular payday after separation. Late payment triggers 25 percent liquidated damages or $500 minimum, plus mandatory attorney fees, plus individual liability for corporate officers and managers.

Accrued vacation and PTO. The WPCL treats accrued vacation as wages only if the employer’s policy or contract clearly provides for accrual and payout. A well-drafted use-it-or-lose-it policy is enforceable. Ambiguous policies create WPCL exposure. Many NoVA employer templates from other states have ambiguous accrual language that creates Pennsylvania-specific risk.

Severance releases. Federal OWBPA controls ADEA waivers federally. Pennsylvania has narrower NDA restrictions than California or New York. Severance releases of WPCL claims face a Crocker-style scrutiny in some Pennsylvania decisions: courts have required clear and specific language and full payment of any disputed wages for the release to be enforceable against WPCL claims. Severance NDA templates should include carve-outs preserving the worker’s right to report illegal conduct to government agencies.

Federal Speak Out Act and FAIR Act. Both apply in Pennsylvania. The Speak Out Act limits predispute NDAs for sexual-harassment and sexual-assault claims. The FAIR Act limits predispute arbitration for those same claims.

No state mini-WARN. Federal WARN applies. Pennsylvania has no state mini-WARN equivalent.

Constructive discharge. Pennsylvania courts apply a constructive discharge standard requiring intolerable working conditions that would compel a reasonable person to leave.

Public-policy exception. The narrow Geary v. United States Steel public-policy exception protects workers terminated for reasons that violate a clear mandate of public policy: refusing to perform an illegal act, exercising a statutory right, fulfilling a statutory duty, or filing a workers’ compensation claim. The exception is narrower than the public-policy doctrines in California or Massachusetts.

Restrictive covenant survival post-termination. Pennsylvania courts have held that a non-compete is enforceable after a termination without cause only if the agreement so provides and adequate consideration supports the post-termination restraint. Where the worker is terminated without cause, courts have sometimes refused to enforce the covenant on equitable grounds. Build clear post-termination survival language into the non-compete and ensure adequate consideration.

9. How I Draft Contracts for Your Philadelphia Workers

For your Philadelphia-based workers, the master employment agreement plus state addendum structure I describe in the hub guide applies. Pennsylvania has a moderate state-law overlay and Philadelphia adds a meaningful city ordinance stack on top. A real Pennsylvania addendum, with attention to the Maintenance Specialties consideration rule for non-competes and the Philadelphia overlay, is the right move.

Non-compete drafting for new hires. Build the non-compete into the offer letter and have the worker sign it before or contemporaneously with the start of employment. The offer of employment is adequate consideration. Draft to the reasonableness factors: a legitimate business interest, a duration of 1 to 2 years, a geographic scope tied to where the worker actually provided services, a narrow scope of activity tied to the worker’s role.

Non-compete drafting for existing workers. Provide actual new consideration before requiring an existing Pennsylvania worker to sign a new or modified non-compete. A signing bonus of at least 5 to 10 percent of annual compensation, a meaningful promotion (not just a title change), a substantial raise, or a meaningful equity grant generally satisfies the Maintenance Specialties rule. Document the consideration in writing as a specific exchange for the non-compete. A general statement that the worker received the consideration is not enough; the agreement should specifically identify the consideration and tie it to the restrictive covenant.

PWOA language. Include the Pennsylvania Uniform Written Obligations Act recital (the worker’s statement that the worker intends to be legally bound) as an additional layer of protection, but do not rely on PWOA alone to satisfy consideration for a non-compete.

Customer non-solicit drafting. Draft tied to customers the worker had material contact with during the last 1 to 2 years of employment. 1 to 2 years is the standard duration.

Employee non-solicit drafting. 1 to 2 years tied to specific co-workers the departing worker actually supervised, managed, or had material professional contact with.

Choice of law and forum. Your Virginia choice-of-law and forum-selection clauses generally hold in Pennsylvania. Include a Virginia choice of law and Virginia forum clause for general contract issues, with acknowledgment that Pennsylvania law applies to WPCL, PHRA, and Pennsylvania-specific statutory claims arising in Pennsylvania.

Wage payment protocol. Audit your wage statement and final-pay protocol against the WPCL. Pay all earned wages, commissions, and bonuses on the next regular payday after separation. Document the calculation and payment. Build WPCL exposure into HR training so line managers understand the 25% liquidated damages and individual officer liability.

Philadelphia Wage Theft Ordinance compliance. For workers performing work in Philadelphia, the Wage Theft Ordinance adds an administrative remedy with treble damages. Maintain the same wage-payment discipline. Document wage-payment communications and any disputed wages clearly.

Paid sick leave policy. For Philadelphia-based workers, your handbook must include a paid sick leave policy meeting the Philadelphia Paid Sick Leave Law floor for employers with 10 or more workers: 40 hours per year accruing at one hour per 40 hours worked. Smaller employers must provide up to 40 hours of unpaid sick leave.

Salary history ban compliance. Update your hiring process so that Philadelphia applicants are not asked about wage history. Do not rely on wage history in compensation-setting for any Philadelphia worker. The simpler approach is to apply the policy to all hires, regardless of location.

Fair Chance Hiring compliance. Update your background-check and hiring process for Philadelphia workers under the Philadelphia Fair Chance Hiring Ordinance: defer criminal-history inquiries until after a conditional offer, apply individualized assessment for adverse actions, provide written notice, and respect the 7-business-day right to respond.

Severance templates. Update severance and settlement templates for the federal Speak Out Act and FAIR Act, the WPCL release rules requiring specific language and full payment of disputed wages, and the Pennsylvania Whistleblower Law (if the worker is a public-sector or public-contractor employee). Build in carve-outs preserving the worker’s right to report illegal conduct to government agencies.

Annual harassment training. Pennsylvania does not require annual sexual harassment training under state law (unlike Illinois, California, and New York), but the federal litigation-prevention benefits make it a sensible investment. Some Philadelphia-specific procurement contracts may require it.

Health Care Practitioners Act compliance. If your NoVA company employs Pennsylvania-based physicians, certified registered nurse anesthetists, certified registered nurse practitioners, or physician assistants, ensure any post-January 1, 2025 non-compete is limited to 1 year and meets the Act’s patient-notification requirements at termination.

10. How I Help NoVA Employers Manage Pennsylvania Workforce Risk

When a Northern Virginia employer calls me about Philadelphia-based workers, the engagement focuses on compliance with non-compete consideration requirements, the WPCL final-pay protocol, the Philadelphia ordinance stack, and Fair Chance Hiring requirements. The Pennsylvania statutory framework and the Philadelphia ordinance overlay together create a moderate compliance lift that most NoVA employers can handle with a focused engagement.

The Pennsylvania audit I run covers seven areas. (1) Non-compete compliance under the Maintenance Specialties consideration rule: new-hire offers with non-competes in the offer letter; existing-worker non-competes supported by documented new consideration; reasonableness analysis for time, geography, and scope; PWOA recital as belt-and-suspenders. (2) WPCL wage-payment protocol with final-pay timing, accrued vacation treatment, and personal officer liability mapping. (3) Philadelphia Wage Theft Ordinance compliance for workers performing work in Philadelphia. (4) Philadelphia Paid Sick Leave Law policy for Philadelphia workers. (5) Philadelphia Salary History Ban compliance for hiring and compensation-setting. (6) Philadelphia Fair Chance Hiring Ordinance compliance for background checks and adverse actions. (7) PHRA-compliant harassment investigation procedures, including the broader Philadelphia Fair Practices Ordinance protected categories.

From there, the engagement typically moves through the redrafting of the Pennsylvania addendum with the consideration framework built in, an update to the wage-payment protocol for the WPCL final-pay rule, a paid sick leave policy update for Philadelphia workers, salary history and Fair Chance Hiring process updates, and HR training tailored to the Pennsylvania and Philadelphia framework. The work usually takes one to two weeks for a company with a handful of Philadelphia workers and scales modestly for larger workforces.

For litigation strategy, Philadelphia-based disputes go to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (federal, Philadelphia) or the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas (state). Both run experienced employment dockets. WPCL, PHRA, and Philadelphia ordinance claims are typically heard in state court. Federal claims (FLSA, Title VII, ADA, ADEA, FMLA) are heard in federal court. EDVA is fully available for general contract disputes and restrictive covenant enforcement with a Virginia forum clause.

My approach with every client is the same. You talk to me directly. Strategy comes from preparation. The right outcome is rarely one answer; it is a system that makes the next hire, the next move, the next separation, and the next complaint easier to handle without exposure. That system works at any size, whether you have one Philadelphia engineer or twenty distributed across the city and the suburbs.

Summary

Pennsylvania sits in the reasonableness cluster on non-competes with the common-law reasonableness test from Pyle v. Hadley and the Maintenance Specialties consideration rule. Continued employment alone is not adequate consideration for a post-hire non-compete; new consideration (a signing bonus, a promotion, a raise, equity, or similar tangible benefit) is required. The Pennsylvania Fair Contracting for Health Care Practitioners Act (Act 74 of 2024, effective January 1, 2025) banned non-competes longer than 1 year for physicians, CRNAs, CRNPs, and physician assistants, with patient-notification requirements.

The Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collection Law imposes liquidated damages of 25 percent of the unpaid wages, or a minimum of $500 (whichever is greater), plus mandatory attorney’s fees and individual liability for corporate officers and managers. The PHRA covers employers with 4 or more workers and reaches sexual orientation and gender identity under PHRC interpretation of sex discrimination. The Pennsylvania Whistleblower Law covers public-sector employees and contractors of public bodies.

Philadelphia adds a deep ordinance stack: the Wage Theft Ordinance with treble damages, the Paid Sick Leave Law (40 hours per year for employers with 10 or more workers), the Fair Workweek Ordinance for covered retail and hospitality industries, the Salary History Ban (which survived First Amendment review in the Third Circuit), the Fair Chance Hiring Ordinance with a 7-business-day right to respond, and the Fair Practices Ordinance covering 1 or more workers.

Pennsylvania has no state pay transparency posting rule and no state-level salary history ban (though Philadelphia has both indirectly through the Salary History Ban). The Pennsylvania minimum wage tracks the federal FLSA at $7.25 per hour. Pennsylvania has no state mini-WARN; federal WARN applies. The Pennsylvania at-will employment framework includes the narrow Geary v. United States Steel public-policy exception.

Your Virginia choice-of-law and forum-selection clauses do real work in Pennsylvania for general contract claims. For WPCL, PHRA, Pennsylvania Whistleblower Law, Health Care Practitioners Act, and Philadelphia ordinance claims, Pennsylvania and Philadelphia law controls. EDVA is fully available for general contract disputes with a Virginia forum clause.

For the framework that runs through every state guide in this series, see my cornerstone guide for hiring out-of-state remote workers.

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